Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader (BK Life) [Paperback]

Dianna Booher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2011 | Series: BK Life

Personal presence is difficult to define but easy to recognize. People with presence carry themselves in a way that turns heads. When they talk, people listen. When they ask, people answer. When they lead, people follow. Personal presence can help you get a date, a mate, a job, or a sale. It can help you lead a meeting, a movement, or an organization.

Presence is not something you’re born with—anyone can learn these skills, habits, and traits. Award-winning speaker and consultant Dianna Booher shows how to master dozens of small and significant things that work together to convey presence. She details how body language, manners, and even your surroundings enhance credibility and build rapport. You’ll learn to use voice and language to demonstrate competence, deliver clear and memorable messages, and master emotions. You’ll learn to think strategically, organize ideas coherently, and convey to others genuine interest, integrity, respect, and reliability.

Take her self-assessment to measure your progress. With Dianna Booher’s expert, entertaining advice, you can have the same kind of influence as the most successful CEOs, celebrities, and civic leaders.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Creating Personal Presence

“I’m a big fan of Dianna Booher. Her new book will help you communicate the very best version of yourself as a leader. Read it!”
—Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and Full Steam Ahead!

“Booher makes ‘presence’ actionable. This is my kind of book!”
—Marshall Goldsmith, author of Mojo and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

“This extraordinary book is full of invaluable ideas and insights that can help you get paid more and promoted faster than you ever thought possible.”
—Brian Tracy, author of Eat That Frog! and How the Best Leaders Lead
 

About the Author

Dianna Booher is CEO of Booher Consultants, a communications training firm. Her clients include nine of the ten largest corporations in America and 140 of the Fortune 500. She has won several awards including the Star Quality Award from IBM, a Vendor of the Year Award from Frito-Lay, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from ASTD—Dallas. She has also been inducted into the National Speakers Association’s Hall of Fame. She has also been featured by Successful Meeting magazine on its list of “21 Top Speakers for the 21st Century” and named one of the “Top 100 Thought Leaders in America” in 2007 and 2008 by Executive Excellence. Dianna is also the author of 45 books, which have collectively sold almost 4 million copies.
 

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (October 3, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1609940113
• ISBN-13: 978-1609940119
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dianna Booher helps organizations and individuals improve effectiveness through better communication: oral, written, interpersonal, and enterprise-wide.

As author of 46 books published in 23 languages (plus numerous ebooks, audios, videos,and training programs), Dianna has published with Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books, Warner, McGraw-Hill, Random House, Thomas Nelson, and Berrett-Koehler.

Her most popular books include:
--Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader
--Communicate with Confidence!: How to Say It Right the First Time and Every Time (Rev. Edition)
--The Voice of Authority: 10 Communication Strategies Every Leader Needs to Know
--Booher's Rules of Business Grammar: 101 Fast and Easy Ways to Correct the Most Common Errors
--Speak with Confidence!: Powerful Presentations That Inform, Inspire, and Persuade
--E-WRITING: 21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication
--From Contact to Contract
--Get a Life Without Sacrificing Your Career

Several have been selections by major book clubs.

Dianna has been interviewed by Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, FOX, CNN, CNBC,USA Today, National Public Radio, Dr. Laura Radio Show, The New York Times, Forbes.com, Washington Post, New York Newsday, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg, Boardroom Reports, Investor's Business Daily, Working Woman, Industry Week, McCall's, Cosmopolitan, Success, Entrepreneur, among other national radio, TV, and newspapers.

Leadership Excellence has named her as one of the "Top 100 Thought Leaders" of America and on its list of "Top 100 Minds on Personal Development." She holds a master's degree in English from the University of Houston.

Dianna is founder and CEO of Booher Consultants, a leading executive communication training firm, whose clients include 145 of the Fortune 500 organizations, plus numerous governmental agencies. Booher trainers have taken Dianna's communication principles and techniques to organizations on six continents.

Programs offered by her firm include business and technical writing, proposal writing, presentation skills, executive presence, customer service communication, interpersonal skills, resolving conflict, effective meetings, listening, and personal productivity.

Booher Consultants, Inc., has received vendor-of-the-year awards from clients such as IBM and Frito-Lay for Booher's overall impact on the organization.

Dianna's clients most often describe her keynotes at major conferences and conventions this way: "So many practical ideas I can use immediately" ... "Inspiring--you make me want to go out and do it now!"..."High energy!"

She delivers very focused keynotes and programs addressing clients' specific communication issues as well as programs on personal growth topics.

Dianna has received the highest awards in the professional speaking industry, including induction into the National Speakers Association's CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame®. Additionally, Successful Meetings magazine named Dianna on its list of "21 Top Speakers for the 21st Century."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Coaching to boost your personal presence September 27, 2011

By Joshua P. OConner VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Let me preface my comments by pointing out that I have never read a book focused in this arena before. Honestly, I have seen a number of books promoted in a manner similar to Creating Personal Presence and have been turned off simply because they appeared to focus on rudimentary or superficial issues when it came to the idea of becoming a more successful entity in a corporate sense. That being said, I was extremely impressed with both the depth and positive nuance of Creating Personal Presence. I was surprised at how captivated I became with the content of the text and how easy it was to draw correlations between the examples in the book and the realities of my own performance.

I envision the book as a primer in teaching leaders the ability to develop the personal skills required of a leader. I've managed core groups of leadership (in the Army) who are responsible for ensuring the well-being of different aspects of company operations. While I am always blown away by the technical competency of those I've worked with, I find myself constantly having to work with some of my most proficient section leaders in learning how to present themselves properly as a leader as well as how to project authority through their presence. I would love to be able to assign Creating Personal Presence as a resource to assist my management in developing the interpersonal skills that allow them to translate their competence into holistic leadership abilities.

I felt that the material was presented in a manner that was balanced in terms of maintaining a positive and encouraging atmosphere while at the same time demanding improved performance. Booher avoids blame and instead focused on how to develop leadership despite individual circumstances. I enjoyed that the book assumes an amount of personal success on behalf of the reader dodging the ever looming "bootstraps" mentality. I found that by starting from a level at which technical competence was assumed allowed the book to be more inviting. Overall the material had more of a coaching/mentoring feel to it.

I like that the book incorporates the author's research into the field citing the exact nature of specific studies and even including the questions posed to those interviewed. I think these add weight to the ideas presented and clarify the author's authority in the field. The narratives do an excellent job of creating opportunities for personal introspection and add entertainment value to the text. I found myself drawing similarities between my own performance and the characters discussed.

I found that the book addressed a topic that I struggle with both in my actual job and in my Army career... that is learning to convey what I know in a manner that other people flock to. It's one thing to know a field, but it's another to be able to convey that knowledge. The book does a terrific job of explaining presence and why it's important to advance in the work place.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader September 17, 2011

By Dan Nielsen

Format:Paperback

I once had the opportunity to spend 30 minutes, one-on-one with General Colin Powell. No one else was in the room. I will never, ever forget that time, our discussion and my overwhelming positive impressions. Talk about command presence and personal presence. Colin Powell has it in spades! Personal presence, to a very large extent, is directly responsible for General Powell's incredibly successful life and career.

Dianna Booher has just published a superb new book titled Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader. This excellent book is a critically important resource for anyone who desires greater personal and professional success. Serious study and application of the priceless suggestions, recommendations and step-by-step examples within this book will improve every aspect of your personal and professional life. I guarantee it!

Dan Nielsen
Founder
National Institute for Healthcare Leadership
America's Healthcare Leaders - Strategies and Perspectives

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent info, some a bit dated November 5, 2011

By Jeff

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

There is some excellent information in this book for men who must wear suits because of their profession or corporate culture. However, the insistence on doing so for any leadership role is dated, considering corporate cultures of some of our best companies (Google, Apple, etc.) Space devoted to creating a presence while presenting oneself in a "business casual" environment would make the book far more up-to-date and useful. There are places where a business suit is far out of place, and where creating a presence is required.

That said, the information that the book does contain is useful beyond expectations. The author does a great job in all other aspects of the subject.